Mexican Style Shredded Beef Crock Pot

Slow Cooker Mexican Shredded Beef is perfect for all of your Mexican dishes. Roll this juicy, richly spiced shredded meat in burritos, or enchiladas. It is delicious in taco salads, tacos, quesadillas and nachos. The meat slow cooks all day so it falls apart, melts in your mouth and makes every dish perfection!

Slow Cooker Mexican Shredded Beef | The Butcher's Wife

The BEEF for Slow Cooker Mexican Shredded Beef

I love using a beef chuck roast for my shredded beef. It is an inexpensive cut of beef, but once it slow cooks in the blend of seasonings all day, you would never know! It tastes rich, hearty, is full of Mexican flavor and will leave you wanting more!

The slow cooker does all the work, and the results are juicy, tender, beef that shreds perfectly and has amazing flavor.

I do not sear the roast in this recipe. Never have never will. I literally dump the ingredients in my slow cooker along with the roast and let it do its thing!

The Seasonings/Spices/Sauce

The seasonings is what makes this Slow Cooker Mexican Shredded Beef amazing. The flavors are rich, and a perfect Mexican Blend that compliments the beef.

I use beef broth, and tomato sauce for the base of the sauce. The meat needs some sort of liquid to braise/cook in all day. The broth and tomato sauce are the perfect rich and savory sauce to do the job.

You will use all of the usual suspects for Mexican flavor- they are simple but amazingly perfect! The spices are really what makes the dish.

I use chili powder, paprika, cumin, garlic powder, onion powder, a bit of sugar to sweeten it a bit, some salt and cornstarch (to help slightly thicken it as it cooks).

Cooking the Slow Cooker Mexican Shredded Beef

I mix up my ingredients in a bowl. I use the amount of seasonings in the recipe, but taste as you go. You can adjust any of the seasonings to your liking. Then I dump it in my slow cooker, add the beef, and turn it on to cook.

Slow Cooker Mexican Shredded Beef - sauce and seasonings

It will need to cook on low for 8-10 hours, or on high for 4-6 hours. I never recommend cooking meat at a higher temperature for a faster/shorter period of time.

I find the meat shrinks quite a bit in the higher temperature and I want all the leftovers I can get! If cooking it on high is what you like, do you, just know that you may end up with less meat!

You will know the meat is done and ready when it falls apart easily when you try and lift it out of the slow cooker!

There is usually some fat that has cooked off the roast that settles on the top. (see photo below)

It looks like oil and looks down right greasy. I don't want that in my meat, so I take paper towels and set them gently on top of the liquid and it soaks it right up. This is optional- if you want to mix it right in your sauce, go for it!

I then, take the meat out of the slow cooker and put it on a plate. I shred the meat. The meat will shred so easily with just a fork after cooking all day! As I shred it, I remove any fat that I can see- nobody likes that in their burrito!

I give the sauce a stir in the slow cooker and add the shredded meat back in to soak up all the good flavor.

If you feel like there is too much sauce in the slow cooker and sauce isn't your thing, you can dump some of the sauce out before adding the meat back in the slow cooker . I love sauce, so I add the beef back in with all of the perfectly spiced Mexican sauce.

If you like the amount of flavor on the meat as you shred it, you don't even have to add it back in to the sauce.

The Possibilities Are Endless!!

I am sure you already know what you are going to make with this Mexican Shredded Beef. The possibilities are endless!

We LOVE smothered burritos. We stuff a large flour burrito with refried beans, Easy Mexican Rice, this shredded beef, cheese and smother it with Red Enchilada Sauce or Green Enchilada Sauce. It is must to add some sour cream, along with Homemade Guacamole on top, with some fresh Pico de Gallo or Homemade Salsa (you want to try the salsa- it is restaurant level good).

Nachos are always a good idea in my world, so add this shredded beef to some loaded nachos. Roll it up and make some beef enchiladas, add it to a Mexican taco salad, quesadillas or tacos! The possibilities are endless!

Shredded Beef can be frozen for a meal later, or can be stored in your fridge for 3-4 days. You can easily reheat it in your microwave!

No matter how you use this Mexican Shredded Beef you will love the results, and will add this recipe to your favorites!

Check out my Slow Cooker Mexican Chicken, that is a perfect alternative to beef. It rivals this shredded beef and makes the perfect Mexican dishes also! It has rich strong Mexican flavors that will give you craveable Mexican dishes at home!

For a slow cooker chicken that isn't so heavy on the Mexican flavor, but still is super yummy in Mexican dishes, try my Copycat Café Rio Slow Cooker Chicken. This chicken has more or of a zesty, tangy taste to it, but is amazing for Mexican dishes as well!

Check out my latest posts!

Slow Cooker Mexican Shredded Beef

This recipe will leave you with approx. 5-6 cups of shredded meat, depending on how much the meat shrinks when cooking.

Course Main Course

Cuisine Mexican

Prep Time 10 minutes

Cook Time 8 hours

Servings 6 (1 cup) servings approx.

3 lbs. beef chuck roast
1 (14.5 oz.) can beef broth
2 (15 oz.) cans tomato sauce
1 tbsp chili powder
3 tsp cumin
2 tsp paprika
2 tsp white sugar
2 tsp garlic powder
2 tsp onion powder
1 tsp salt, or more to taste
3 tbsp cornstarch *this will help thicken the sauce a bit as it cooks

Mix the tomato sauce, beef broth, seasonings/spices and cornstarch in a bowl. Pour the sauce into your slow cooker.

Taste the sauce BEFORE you add the meat, and adjust the seasonings to your liking!
Place the chuck roast in the sauce. You can spoon some sauce over the top of the roast if you want.
Place the lid on the slow cooker and let it cook on low for 8-10 hours or on high 4-6 hours.

NOTE: If you cook your meat on high for a faster/shorter cooking time, the meat will shrink and you will end up with less meat.
You will know the meat is done cooking when it falls apart easily when you try and lift it out of the slow cooker.
You may notice some of the fat has cooked off the meat and has settled on top of the sauce in the slow cooker. I like to remove it. I gently place some paper towels on the surface so the fat/grease can get soaked up. This is totally optional- you can stir it into the sauce if you prefer.
Take the meat out of the slow cooker and place it on a plate. It will fall apart (it should fall apart-that means it is perfectly cooked), so try your best to get it all out and on the plate.
Using 2 forks, shred the beef. Remove any fat as your shred it.
Stir the sauce in the slow cooker and place your shredded beef back in the slow cooker in the sauce. Mix the beef in the sauce, it will soak up some of the sauce, making it perfectly juicy and flavored!

*If there is too much sauce left in the slow cooker for your liking, you can dump out as much sauce as you like. I like my meat saucy, so I leave it all in-the meat tends to soak up some of the sauce when it is added back in!

**If you like the amount of flavor on the meat as you shred it, you don't even have to add it back in to the sauce.
Use the shredded beef however your like! Make burritos, enchiladas, tacos, salads, nachos, quesadillas or whatever you wish!

This recipe varies on the meat you will end up with at the end. The meat will shrink a bit as it cooks, and some of the fat from the roast will be tossed out when you shred it. You will not end up with exactly 3 lbs of meat. I usually get about 5-6 cups of shredded meat, that is rough estimate and varies each time I cook it!